WiR: First Day After :)
by the pixlexic sloth
Summary: Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz were instantly best friends; no one -not even the two of them- could deny that. A mere day and a half was all it took for them to become inseparable...and to figure out just how strong their love and trust really was. (Cover art by the amazing snoodlebutter!)
1. Chapter 1: It's All So Brand New

**(Quick A/Ns- (Edit: I made a few changes in this one-shot, to make it flow better with the later chapters ;))**

**This is just going to be a brief series of one-shots that describe what I think happened the first day or so after Vanellope and Ralph met. The first one kinda lays the foundation and the emotions involved, and the other two will be what happens later on. (Also, Part 3 is going to a nightmare one-shot...I tend to be drawn to reading/writing those a lot lol)**

**A quick disclaimer: This is NOT a Jawbreaker story. I do not ship Vanellope and Ralph together in this or any other story of mine. (The word 'love' is an intentionally important part of this story- but not romantic love in any way lol It will be deeped explained in the next two chapters ;)**

**Hope all enjoy!! :))**

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**Chapter 1:** **It's All So Brand New**

"Man, kid! We've had a lot of fun tonight, haven't we?" A loud yet notably tired voice boomed, causing a gentle echo to bounce around on the arcade station walls. "You must be _exhausted_ now...right?"

At her new best friend's overly hopeful-sounding words, the child perched on the man's shoulder just puckishly laughed. Man, could Ralph be _stupid_ sometimes or what?

"Uh, no," the mischievous child smirked out, carelessly rocking back and forth on the man's shoulder. "Not at all."

Ignoring his loud, pointed sigh in return, the girl gently noogied his messy, auburn hair.

"Listen, my main man," she smirked down as she set him straight, "I know you've only known me for liiiiike..."

The child paused in her playful disheveling to suddenly peer up, thoughtfully calculating the exact amount time she'd known the man she was sitting on...

And quickly became utterly shocked at just how short that time really was.

"...A day and a half now? Tops?" she finally murmured out loud, her black eyebrows hunched down in speculation as she looked down at him. "That can't be right..."

"Wait, seriously?!" Ralph immediately responded, shock overcoming him as well. He jerked to stop in his casal walking for a moment, which would've caused the light-weight child to go tumbling off his shoulder had she not quickly latched onto his hair. "That's _it?"_

A day and a half? That didn't seem right to either of them. Not at all.

No, Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz _couldn't_ just have known each other that long...could they? That didn't seem like enough time. Didn't FEEL like enough time. In fact, in a more logical, more realistic point of view, it was practically impossible.

There was virtually _no way_ two people as different and yet as much alike as Ralph and Vanellope were could simply bond _that_ fast. It was pretty much unheard of for two people to be complete strangers one day and literally best friends the next.

This obnoxious child Vanellope -or 'kid', as he so lovingly called her often- meant so much to Ralph this point. And this bad guy hobo -or her 'Stink Brain', as she so endearingly labeled him- was Vanellope's honest-to-goodness best friend. They seemed to know each other inside and out- and were already super close because of it.

Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz honestly really loved- er, _cared__ about_ each other already...

And they'd really only known each other for a mere day and a half?

"Man, it feels like we've known each other _forever!"_ Ralph finally gawked openly, shaking his head in a strangely happy haze as he picked up walking again.

"I know!" Vanellope agreed quickly as shook her own head in a stupor. A smirk quickly took residence on her face, however- just as Ralph knew it would as she then gloated. "But you have to know by now that I _never_ get tired! Like, _ever! _Ga-doi!"

With her relentless smirk still plastered on her round face, the child swung a bit on her best friend's shoulder- so full of life and excitement...

And unwavering, _exhaustingly_ strong energy.

When she then batted her overly large, beautiful and teasing eyes down at him, an overexaggerated sigh couldn't help but escape Ralph's mouth. He semi-knew deep down that those would more than likely be Vanellope's conceited answer to his question; the child, after all, always seemed to have more energy than...well, a child on a sugar rush.

And as much as he loved- er, had_ great affection for_ Vanellope already, Ralph wasn't quite used to being around someone so perky. Someone who could (and wanted to) go exploring so late into the night...knowing full well that they had to get up and work the next day...

"But come on, kid!" the large man pointedly whined, starting to rub the back of his neck- his tick when he got too tired, Vanellope had noticed. "I've already introduced ya to a lot of my friends and showed you around the arcade. And _then_ we played around a lot of games you wanted to see- and then some!"

Starting to physically wind down, the large man slumped forward, somehow making himself tired all over again just talking about all they had done.

At his tired words and mien, however, the sassy child just raised her eyebrows and stared down at him.

"What?!" She crowed, her raspy voice echoing slightly itself in the slowly emptying station around them. "I know you're a total dunce, Ralph, but come on! We bearly did _anything!_ For one thing, you haven't introduced 'a lot' of your friends to me! I only met your buddies from Villains Anonymous-"

"Bad-Anon," Ralph corrected her, rolling his eyes as he smirked up at her. "It's called Bad-Anon."

"Villains Anonymous, Bad-Anon. Whatever. It's practically the same thing, Mutton Head," the child quickly brushed away his correction- before softly laying her head upon Ralph's own, silently winding her hand through his hair as he walked on. "You crumby bad guys just dorkishly gather around, share a donut and a cup of coffee, and 'talk through your feelings' with that hippie orange guy, Clyde."

Despite being so exhausted he could fall asleep on his large feet, Ralph couldn't help but chuckle at her evaluation of their meetings. Vanellope was almost too smart for her own good sometimes.

"You've _gotta_ have more friends than that, right?" She then pointed out, lifting up her head to smirk down at him-

Before her face fell a bit, a rare time Ralph ever saw it so soft and sympathetic as a suddenly new possibly occurred to her for the first time.

"...Or did you have even fewer friends...than _I_ did before the reset?" She concluded softly, her voice the most gentle Ralph had ever heard it.

"Well, the baddies at Bad-Anon _are_ most of my friends, kid. Before and after we met," the wrecker told her with a gentle, carefree shrug, causing the child's face to lose its gentleness. "I have only a few other friends outside of them, actually- like Felix and Calhoun, of course."

"Oh, and what am _I_ to you? Chopped liver?" Vanellope jokingly responded, gently pushing the side of Ralph's head...

But although it was meant to be said jokingly, the sensitive man could still hear a slight hint of seriousness, of even _hurt_ in her fake-harsh tone. He could detect that there was some odd sort of _fear_, a strange level of actual _belief_ in her own words...all in which caused Ralph's thick eyebrows to rise only slightly in surprise.

Despite the fact that they already felt like siblings, Vanellope's level of friendship and trust in Ralph could only realistically and genuinely be so high. And, of course, despite all they'd been through together, nothing could alter or remove the brutal past the small girl had experienced and lived through- or that it had shaped her into who she was now.

The closed-off, seemingly carefree girl had just as bad of a trustless, loveless past as Ralph did, after all. Far worse, actually, when the wrecker really thought about it. It was really a miracle that Vanellope could even recognize love- er, _affection_ when she received it...

The poor kid could only distrust everyone she'd ever known... And sadly, to some extent, that even included Ralph. He well understood that although he'd well-earned her trust by now, the child may still have some hesitancy in trusting him. Truly trusting him, anyway.

Sure, Vanellope could laugh and tease (and annoyingly mock)...but did she _really_ trust her Stink Brain? His friendship? Even his genuine love- er, _immense adoration_ for her?

Those were questions that bothered Ralph- more than he'd ever cared to admit. So the second he realized just how stand-offish his best friend really was, the big-hearted wrecker promised himself that he'd practically do anything to solidify her trust in him- but he knew needed to start small.

They'd only known each other a day and a half, after all.

_"Best_ friends don't count," the wrecker finally smirked at his kid, purposely making his voice extra soft and kind. Briefly rubbing his head up against hers, he felt his eyes go soft when looking at her. "Ga-doi."

At his pointed words, Vanellope forced down a rare blush and all-out avoided his gaze for a moment... but she couldn't quite as successfully hide the happy little glow overtaking her.

A happy little glow she wasn't quite so used to having yet... a happy little glow she hadn't quite even accepted as being _real_, even...

But one she was starting to love- er, _greatly like,_ nonetheless.

"W-well, you gotta have _someone_ else you can introduce me to, right?" The child quickly pressed, gently but playfully shoving Ralph's head to the side again. "Gotta know of another game that's super duper fun?"

"But there's really nothing left to explore or anyone else to really meet, kid," the large, gentle man complained as he paused yet again in his pace to look at her sluggishly. "At least not tonight. And trust me, we've gone into the best and most fun games already!"

"Ralph, we've only been into, like, three games!" Vanellope instantly countered, suddenly glitching to the other side of Ralph's broad shoulders and gestured to the game portals on their right. "We've only gone into Dig Dug and Pac-Man-"

"And Whack-a-Mole," Ralph added as he shot her a pointedly grumpy look, rubbing the still sore place on the crown of his head as Vanellope just giggled.

Pixlateling down to stand before him, the child ignored his muttered groaning about how hard that stupid hammer really was. Instead, Vanellope suddenly found her eyes dancing around Game Central Station all over again- and found her excitement growing all the more.

The station was_ so huge_, what with it's dozens upon dozens of game portals, all lined up one right after the other. Some were games the once game-trapped child had heard about in passing from other Sugar Rush characters; others were games with names she didn't recognize at all. But regardless of her preexisting knowledge of it or not, each game was just beckoning Vanellope to venture inside and explore- right then and there.

And sweet mother of monkey milk- that was just the games themselves, Vanellope quickly realized. The _characters_ that spewed out of those games were just as interesting, unique, and amazing as their game appeared to be. Creatures of all kinds and of all different sizes, shapes, and colors wandered around the ground of the main terminal, not even seeming to notice how _amazing_ they all were.

It was a lot for one small, once confined little girl to take it. And she really, _really_ love- er, _beyond cherished_ every single second of it all.

Maybe the newness and the refreshness and the shock would wear off eventually for her- but at the moment, Vanellope just couldn't get enough of this station...of this _dream_...

And the happy glow in her eyes, the wide, toothy grin on her face, and just the excitability practically radiating from her were enough to make Ralph fondly smile down at her. He loved- er, _greatly_ _adored _when Vanellope got like this.

The goofy, warm feeling swallowing him only intensified as the child spun in an aminated, wide-eyed circle, motioning yet again to the games around them.

"I've only seen a _tiny part_ of this huge place, Stink Brain!" She bellyached, causing a smiling Ralph to roll his eyes again. "There's still so much to explore!! We _have_ to go explore it all- tonight!"

"Right," the wrecker chuckled as he reached down and gently ruffled her raven hair. "'Cause it's not like we have _the__ rest of our lives_ to do so."

"Exactly!" The girl crowed, not detecting his sarcasm- and instead taking it as his way of agreeing with her. "So let's get agoin' already!!"

Glitching around, the excited child smiled widely as she jabbered away, numbering off all the games she still wanted to see.

"We can go into that one root beer game, and then Peter Pepper and then that game where you fight on the streets and- ooh, ooh! _Then_ I want to go into that game with the little frogs! That one looks cool, and-"

Her best friend before her felt his happy doting smile become a painful grimace almost instantly. He couldn't help but begin to rub the bridge of his nose in silence as she gushed on. Just the sheer amount of games the child was naming off was powerful enough to increase his poor, fatigue-induced headache.

The wrecker was about to futility and tirelessly argue with her - asking that couldn't they at least take a _nap_ first?- before a much better idea into his mind.

He may've only known Vanellope von Schweetz for a short period of time, but Wreck-It Ralph had already learned that when he couldn't get her to agree with him, his fall-back method was the next best for any energetic child.

Completely and utterly distract her.

"Say...you know which game you _haven't_ gone into yet?" He quizzed her, a pointed smile stretching across his face.

"Shut up and listen," she hissed as she glared up at him with narrowed eyes. "I'm naming them off, genius."

Matching her scowl, Ralph rolled his eyes.

"That's not what I meant, kid," he deadpanned. "You have to guess."

The child thought about his words for a moment, her dark eyebrows cutely hunched again in thinking as she tapped her chin mockingly.

"Hmmm...How 'bout more than half the games here?" She finally stated sarcastically, smirking at him with half-lidded eyes.

Unamused, Ralph placed his ginormous hands on his hips.

_"No._ I was thinking more like a game we both know of... and that a few good friends of yours live in," he told her, eyebrows explicitly up as another obvious smirk settled in on his own face.

Not getting his hints, the child then seriously squished up her face, perplexity settling in- before a small, hopeful smile appeared.

"Hero's Duty?" She asked excitedly and expectedly, grinning optimistically up at her friend.

Almost immediately, Ralph's face fell and a sharp glare of disgust surfaced on his face. There was _no way_ this little girl was stepping one foot into _that_ death-trap.

"Uh, no," he corrected dryly before finally giving up in their guessing game, a genuine smile now upon his face. "I was thinking about _my_ game, kid! I just realized I haven't even shown you around Fix-It Felix Jr-"

The wrecker couldn't even finish his line of thought before Vanellope quickly began wiggling excitedly and loudly squealing- which caused Ralph to half-jokingly cover his poor ears.

"Yes, yes, YES!" She exclaimed at last, bearly able to control herself as she glitched erratically in place. "I'm _such_ a candy turd! How could I forget all about exploring _your_ game?!? Let's go, let's go, LET'S GO!!"

A relieved smile surfacing on his face, Ralph sighed happily down at his impish, eager best friend.

This was perfect. Simply perfect.

He could quickly show her around his game -ooh, and up on the apartment rooftop!- and then they could head to his shack. Maybe they could eat that cherry pie that was in his fridge...and then turn some calming tv...

And then if Vanellope just so happened to pass out on Ralph's new couch from pure exhaustion and sleep _all night_ until having to get up for work the next day, Ralph could happily make do with that.

The child couldn't just keep going, after all; every top runs out of spin, every car runs out of gas, and everyone gets tired at some point. Even an extremely bouncy kid like Vanellope...

At least, that's what Ralph certainly hoped for. He could really use that nap.

Getting excited at that more-than-likely prospect, Ralph smiled as wide as Vanellope was.

"Well, what are we waiting for, then?" he asked happily, maneuvering around the excited child and already sprinting quickly towards his game portal. "Let's gets a'movin'! Last one there is a rotten Mario mushroom!"

Nearly tripping and falling flat on his face, Ralph clumsily bolted ahead, mistakenly thinking he was well in the lead...

Suddenly appearing a few dozen feet ahead of him, however, Vanellope glitched easily before him. Turning to smirk carelessly in his direction, she waited at a near-by bench for Ralph to breathlessly catch-up.

"You're racin' with the wrong kid, Chumbo," she teased him, shaking her head at the sadly optimistic yet weakening zeal Ralph had on his paling face. "You're never gonna win against me."

"I'm...gonna...die trying," the large man wheezed slightly, slowly to a stop as he neared his game's portal. Suddenly aware of just how physically out of shape he really was, the wrecker comically placed his huge hands on his knees and bent over to overdramatically hack a few times.

Wincing, the child backed even further away from him, afraid her friend's nasty exhaustion could rub off on her.

"Don't take that so literally, big guy," she teased, glitching over to gently punch one of his slightly shaking legs. "Not everyone can be an adorable winner like me; there has to be ugly losers like you to balance the world out."

"Hardy...har-har," Ralph panted out, still out of breath as he finally straightened up his aching back- eager for that nap more than he'd ever thought possible. "Let's just go into my game already."

Dramatically limping closer to his 8-bit game's large, dome-like portal, the large man mosied into the tunnel, imagining that his kid was trudging along right behind him...

Which she was- until Vanellope realized an entirely new sensation was touching her skin.

Suddenly curious to see just where said sensation was coming from, Vanellope paused and looked around the station- and abruptly saw the three ginormous windows Game Central Station had in the far side of the terminal. She'd somehow not noticed them until now, what with there being so many other things to see and feel in the station already.

Nearly blinded by something extremely bright seeping through the windows, the child shielded her eyes for a moment with her hand- before she realized what she was feeling was very different to her...

And that it was caused by something she thought she'd never get to experience in person.

The sun -a _real_ sun, not even made of candy or sugar!- was what was brushing against her skin so softly. It was a real, refreshing sun that was shining beautifully through the large windows, kissing everything they touched in the station- including Vanellope.

It was the _real_ sun that the child had always heard about- and always thought was just a myth, a legend...and then a mere _dream_...

Something she'd never thought she'd ever get to see or feel one day in her life.

The hiddenly sentimental child sighed deeply, instantly dropping her hand...and without thinking, she actually closed her eyes. She was too overwhelmed, too relaxed for a split moment to even think clearly...to think about what could happen when she opened her eyes again...

Abruptly realizing what she'd done, Vanellope gasped and made her eyes jump open again- and, to her totally relief, she saw that the sun was still there...Still shining it's rays upon her- and still warming her entirely.

Her heart not pounding quite so hard, she bit her lip, struggling to fully take in her new bubbling, warm feelings. She was the first to admit that she love- well, _greatly liked _this new sensation of an actual sun...

And she could only hope it'd last...

At the thought of this all just being a fleeing feeling, a temporary sensation, the girl shook her head hard- clearing it of all the negative thoughts filling her inside. Mostly.

Forcing a smile, she just allowed herself to take in this moment, not worry about or fear anything else...and as she did, Vanellope then felt her smile become more relaxed. She deeply sighed, her mind and heart in almost complete peace as one thought bounced around happily in her mind for a moment in time.

_Life just can't get better than this._

Deep-seated fear suddenly gripping her yet again, however, the girl's eyes doubled in size- a new worry shaking her out of her calm stupor. Frantically turning to look back down Ralph's game portal, Vanellope winced in her place...afraid her best friend might not be there anymore...

Upon seeing Ralph was still there, still over-exaggeratedly limping along, however, the child sighed in relief. She winced again, beyond ashamed at her irrational fears and worries that overtook her. They made her feel so weak...so vulnerable...

As Ralph suddenly paused in his mawkishly painful hobbling, he turned to smirk at his small friend at his side...seeing that she wasn't there for some odd reason. Quickly looking over his shoulder, he saw that Vanellope was standing at his portal's mouth- just staring deep into the tunnel.

Although too far away to see her face, the wrecker felt concern for her suddenly pausing. Ignoring it as it nagged on him, he forced himself to smile her way, eagerly waving her forward- and beckoning her to join him into his game.

And once she shook herself from that oddly familiar feeling of dread, Vanellope smiled from cheek to cheek as well- moved to quickly skip towards her best friend.

As she did, Vanellope surppressed her nagging fears...and it was then that she happily realized that for probably the first time in her entire life, she had been completely wrong.

Her life _could_ get better- because now she finally had a best friend to share it with...

One that she could only hope was permanent.


	2. Chapter 2: Don't Close Your Eyes

(**A/N: Good grief! Sorry it's taken SO long to get this chapter done! Lol Procrastination, fickleness and last-minute-changes at it's finest lol XD**

**I've been trying to keep my chapters/stories shorter and less fluffy/'heavy-hearted' than my past track record of writing has been...but this got way longer and fluffier than I originally intended it to lol. Oh well. Old habits die hard, I guess XD )**

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**Chapter 2: Don't close your eyes**

"Quite the view, eh?" Ralph asked out loud, not sure if he was merely talking to himself or to the stunned child standing by his side. Either way, though, a huge, permanent smirk was beginning to spread across his face as he steadily stared forward- a familiar warm glow rising in his chest.

Finally averting his eyes away from the gorgeous view before him, the wrecker looked down at his little friend at his side. He saw she was currently slack-jawed, utter amazement written on her face.

"Are you kiddin'?!" Vanellope suddenly exclaimed, her ginormous eyes even wider than usual as she herself stared ahead. "This is _awesome_, Ralph!"

At her confirming words, the wrecker placed his large hands proudly on his hips, his smirk only widening. He knew she'd love- er, _really, really like_ the rooftop as much as he did.

Unable to pull her eyes away from the gorgeous view before her eyes, Vanellope blinked repeatedly to make sure she wasn't just seeing things. She had no idea a mere view from a gaming screen could be so awesome.

The vantage point on the Nicelanders apartments had one stellar of a view- a viewpoint she'd never seen before back in Sugar Rush...or in any other game the two had ventured in that night, for that matter. The game cabinet of Fix-It Felix Jr -and it's accompanying Nicelander building- seemed to be in the perfect location to peer outside into the arcade...

And to have the best viewpoint for dazzling arcade scenery- the best Vanellope had ever seen.

Off to the right side, she immediately noticed, were the arcade's glass front doors, allowing beautiful, actual sunrises and sunsets to filter on through- and seep right into Ralph's game in their path. The pink and orange lights of the actual rays of the sun warmed the entire rooftop edge, making Vanellope feel a familiar fuzziness inside.

On the other side of the expansive arcade, the child noticed as she turned her head, there were many, many other gaming cabinets visible. There were so many, in fact, Vanellope quickly lost count.

She could see Dig Dug...and Tappers...and Hero's Duty...

And one other game that caught her elated attention almost instantly.

"Hey...is that _Sugar Rush?!"_ She squealed spontaneously, ecstatically jumping up and down- way too close to the very edge of the rooftop. "I can't believe it! I can see my game _from the outside of it!!"_

Worried she'd accidentally hop right off the side of the building and plummet towards the 8-bit ground below them, Ralph reflexively scooped the elated child up and placed her safely upon his shoulder. Subconsciously holding on to her little legs for further support, Ralph smiled widely at her yet again.

"Yup! That's your game right there," he confirmed, shrugging casually. "Pretty cool, right?"

"It's _amazing!"_ She crowed loudly in response to his nonchalance, shaking her head in a stupor.

Affectionally watching her for a moment, the wrecker she was sitting on just smiled at her- watching as she silently stared off at her bright and beautiful gaming console...

Before Ralph suddenly felt himself begin to worry. Peering closer under the light of the beautiful, fading sunset, he saw Vanellope's smile was abruptly and quickly shrinking- and was being replaced with a far off look Ralph had never seen from her before.

"You...uh, you ok, kid?" He asked cautiously, hating the heartbroken look she now bore. "You seem kinda... _sad_ all of a sudden."

Blinking for a moment, the child shook her head once more- blushing embarrassingly as she did.

"No...I'm not sad," she quickly corrected him- before trying to form exactly how she felt into the right words. "I guess I'm just in... _amazement_. My game cabinet is just so beautiful..."

Out of sufficing words, the emotionally vanquished child trailed off. She silently peered closer at her large game cabinet- taking in its bright pink colors, it's inviting flashing lights...

Taking in that it was _her_ beautiful home. _Her_ game was a cutesy racing game that just enticing all to join a fun-filled race...

"...I never thought I'd get to look at it from this point of view," she suddenly mentioned, feeling compelled to twist her small fingers over and over again- attempting to distract herself enough not to cry.

Quickly finding that such a distraction wasn't working, the small girl abruptly laid her head on top of Ralph's. She sighed all at once- a sentimental wobble in her tone as she spoke.

"And it's...it's even _better_ than I ever imagined it would be..."

Suddenly rubbing her cheek softly into her friend's auburn hair, the small child allowed a small, genuine smile to appear on her face. Unbeknownst to Ralph, she forgot her pinned-up fear...and sleepily closed her tear-filled eyes.

"..._ALL_ of this is even better than I imagined it would be..." Vanellope then whispered so softly- struggling to fully take in the pure, flat-out rare feelings of happiness...and _fear_ suddenly overtaking her then.

Squeezing her eyes shut a little harder as she gripped Ralph's hair with one of her little hands, the child found that she was...undeniably scared. So fearful, in fact, it crowded and pushed aside her happiness. Suffocating and burning her joy down to mere ashes in what was initially such an amazing moment for her young life.

All at being terrified... _just to open her eyes..._

Underneath her now slightly trembling form, Ralph gulped back a knot in his dry throat at Vanellope's tear-jerking words. He bit his lip- and decided it would be best if he didn't even attempt to speak. He'd probably end up saying something stupid. Or he'd end up unmanly-like crying...

Either way, he knew, it wouldn't be good- and it would definitely ruin what he thought was Vanellope's deeply happy moment.

Trying to silently sit down with as little motion as possible, Ralph slowly plopped down on the edge of the rooftop- hoping he didn't disturb the child on his shoulder.

At the slight motion of being moved, though, Vanellope forgot all about being scared- and, without thinking, opened her eyes...

To see that she was still on the Nicelander's building. Still graced with the presence of a warm glow from the actual sunset. Still able to see what the outside of her game looked like...still able to see how beautiful it was. Still able to venture outside _her_ amazing home in general...

And she quickly realized that she was still sitting safely in the accompany of her very best friend.

Snuggling a bit closer to said best friend, Vanellope sighed again- allowing happiness to overtake her once more. And love- er, _deeply liking_ that Ralph was there experiencing it all with her.

After a few minutes of rare silence shared between the two, the girl finally sat back up and discreetly wiped her snotty nose on her sleeve- hoping Ralph didn't notice. Blinking back happily at the Sugar Rush cabinet, Vanellope smiled her cute crooked smile down at Ralph... making him do the same with her.

"I can't believe you can see my game so well from way up here," she finally spoke again, her voice more normal and raspy than filled to the brim with sentimentality. She even paused to chuckle- and to give her best friend a little hair-ruffling noogie. "I'll have to remember that and wave to ya when I win...and, well, when you're being thrown off the building, of course."

At her resurfacing joking manner, Ralph smirked at her and returned the noogie.

"Hardy-har," he droned, rolling his eyes as he slowly stood up back up. "Very funny, dirty-haired brat..."

And as he saw Vanellope very, _very_ briefly rub a tiny bit of actual sleepiness from her eyes, a resurfacing idea came to him all at once.

"So, uh...you want to see exactly where _I_ live, kid?"

* * *

"Ok, don't freak out at how messy my place is," the wreckor cautiously warned Vanellope still up on his shoulder as they both approached his shack. "It's pretty much a disaster."

"Sounds like a home you'd have," said child smirked in response, causing her best friend to falsely glower at her for a moment. Rolling his eyes, he dug through his overalls for his hidden house key.

"I've only been in here for, like, a day or so, kid," he grumbled, finally fishing out the hidden key- way too small for his contrastingly large fingers. "I'm still attempting to get settled in."

After unlocking the front door and gently swinging it open, Ralph shuffled inside and blindly felt around on the wall for a moment, seeking to feel the light switch. His huge fingers almost missed it as they grazed over it- but with one large flip of the switch, there was instantly light in the tiny shack Ralph now called home.

"Welcome to my home!" He suddenly crowed as he gestured towards the tiny living room they found themselves in. Pushing a disregarded object on the floor away with his big toe, he gently scooped Vanellope up and placed her on the clean bit of floor space- a blush settling over his face. "It's a bit of a mess at the moment, heh..."

Instead of responding to his welcoming, however, Vanellope just looked around for a moment- seeking to take in Ralph's humble abode. And as she cautiously tip-toed her way further into his small living room, she found that Ralph had been right for once.

His place _was_ indeed messy. And, well... _interesting_, to say the least.

For one thing, the child observed, there were random objects sprinkled all over the place. Anything and everything littered the floor, from a few too many new toothbrushes (shack-warming gifts from the Nicelanders, Vanellope correctly figured), to a brand new set of still unused pots and pans.

A few half-unpacked boxes were scattered here and there as well, further cluttering up the tiny living room- and making it that much harder to walk through. In fact, the girl quickly found, any floor space that wasn't occupied by a box or a toothbrush was filled with a piece of very, _very_ large furniture- custom built by Felix to fit a large, brawny man like Ralph.

Feeling a fond smile surface on her face, Vanellope dismissively shook her head. Just the living room of this shack was as awkward and quirky and out-of-portioned as Ralph was...And yeah, it definitely needed her touch of organizing and decorating skills, _that_ was for sure...

And yet it all made her feel instantly at home- way more than the gargantuan, lifeless castle she lived in ever would, anyway.

"Yeah...I-I know," Ralph finally stammered out beside her, rubbing the back of his neck again as he pushed another toothbrush package away with his foot. "It's not quite the way I want it to look yet. But it's-"

"Perfect," the child finished, glitching back up to his shoulder and snuggling close to him. "It's simply perfect, Stink Brain."

Earning an astonished half-smile from her best friend, Vanellope couldn't help but devilishly smirk.

"Well, it _will_ be once I organize this place a bit for ya," she deadpanned, pixellating over to stand in his large coffee table- one of the few places not completely covered with random stuff. "It needs some serious straighten out."

Briefly looking around at his messy pig-stye of a home, Ralph tiredly slumped over- just the thought of cleaning up such a huge mess exhausting him.

"Yeah, well, we'll worry 'bout that later, kid," he pointedly waved off, smirking as he came to scooped the girl back up. "We've got better things to do-"

"Like...explore other games?" Vanellope chirped excitedly, glancing up at her best friend in hope as she briefly snuggled to his chest. "I still have my loooong mental list of games we haven't seen yet, you know-"

"Er, you want some cherry pie, kid?" The desperate wrecker quickly interrupted- determined to distract her exhausting thoughts again.

Before she could reject his idea, Ralph quickly darted into his kitchen across the living room and planted Vanellope on the small island his kitchen contained. Turning to open his fridge door, he smiled hopefully at her over his shoulder.

"It's Mary's secret recipe," he mentioned convincingly, "and it's _totally_ the bomb."

"_Ga-doi _I want some pie!" The child laughed out loud to Ralph's delight, scooting over to the edge of the island and swinging her legs over the side. "What kinda stupid question is that?! Who turns down_ pie?!"_

"I do if it's chocolate flavor," Ralph mumbled under his breath in response, his face overtaken with a sour expression- causing Vanellope to swallow down a giggle.

Proud that he had successfully distracted her yet again, Ralph resumed fishing around inside his fridge for a moment. He licked his lips when he finally found the hidden pie he was looking for, a greedy smile coming across his face.

Suddenly bumping his head harshly on the fridge's top as he slowly pulled out his prize, Ralph groaned- and chose to ignore the distasteful giggle that finally escaped his small friend's lips. He knew one couldn't go without a fridge for 30 odd years and then get used to its height-to-depth ratio overnight, after all.

After searching for (and somehow finding) a few stray forks, a knife, and two plates in his hodgepodge of utensils, Ralph and Vanellope finally cut out two fairly large chunks out of the pie. And once they'd found a perfect amount of vanilla ice cream buried in the freezer, the two friends finally started to dive into their sweet treat.

And although she'd never admitted it, Vanellope quickly found that Ralph was right again. Within taking one bite of the delicious pie, she realized that Mary's recipe _was_ totally the bomb.

In fact, Vanellope sentimentally realized as she greedily ate, her whole _life_ was totally the bomb now._ This_ was how it should've been this entire time, how it was meant to be this entire time...

It was all so perfect, so amazing; it was all like almost like...it all was just a _dream..._

Across from her, Ralph felt himself sigh softly at the delicious pie on his tongue. It tasted even better than usual- and it was no secret as to why.

A fond smile coming on his face, he leaned his elbows up against the island- and quickly decided there was nothing better than Mary's famous cherry pie AND a best friend to share it with.

After a few rare moments of silence not filled with mocking, joking, or teasing, the wrecker turned his focus from his pie to share a happy smile with Vanellope- only to see she wasn't smiling. Not even a little bit.

Deep in some sort of troubling thought, her sleek eyebrows were hunched down and her face only bore a sad, worried frown. The look she had was obviously of concern...and a strange _fear_...as she stared down at her slowly emptying plate.

"You ok, kid?" Ralph finally had the guts to asked her, his voice soft with concern- even more so than it had been upon the rooftop. "Somethin' bothering ya?"

Looking up in rapt attention, the distraught look Vanellope had instantly changed to impassiveness. She shook her head carelessly, slight annoyance on her now relaxed face.

"What? _Of course _I'm fine, you big knucklehead," the child brushed off- although her large, telling eyes still screamed otherwise.

After a moment of pretending, she abandoned her careless act and stared back down at her mostly eaten pie, a look of emptiness slowly resurfacing on her face. She mindlessly fiddled with her fork for a second...

And it was then Ralph realized that she was trying to distract _herself_ from something. Obviously seeking to divert and redirect her mind from...well, whatever it was plaguing her inside.

And no thought weighed on him more than that did.

Once she detected that her own distraction wasn't working so well, Vanellope just scooped more of the pie into her mouth- although she couldn't seem to even taste it now, let alone enjoy it. Suddenly disgusted, she quickly set her fork down and bit her lip.

That stupid creeping fear she had here lately had a way of sucking the enjoyment out of _everything_ in her life. Even totally-the-bomb kind of cherry pie.

Wanting to say something to help her but not knowing what it would be, Ralph copied her and bit his lip silently as well. Obviously something big was bothering her- and he couldn't rest until he figured out just what it could be.

Opening his mouth, he was about to press the issue until the girl would finally confessed her troubles to him...

Before the wise wrecker quickly shut his mouth again, disregarding the thought altogether. Although he was getting more and more worried by the second about her depressed behavior, he quickly decided it'd be best to just leave it and not push Vanellope to open up, that it'd only drive her away and make it impossible to get anything out of her.

In fact, Ralph realized then, deep down he knew that as much as he wanted Vanellope to trust him, he just had to trust _her_ just as much in return.

Vanellope would tell him if her problem was something that was truly important...

Well, at least, Ralph certainly _hoped_ she would do so...

Not seeing that there was anything else he could do at the moment, Ralph just hunched his eyebrows down and went back to eating his pie- although it didn't leave nearly as good of a flavor in his mouth as it had previously.

Seeing his best friend so sad had a way of sucking the enjoyment out of _everything_ for him. Even totally-the-bomb kind of cherry pie.

Abruptly sitting her plate beside her and pushing it aside -with one tiny piece of now revolting pie left abandoned on it- Vanellope couldn't help but cautiously eyed up at Ralph...

To surprisingly see he was doing the same thing, his soft brown eyes deep with affection.

Suddenly reaching over to ruffle her hair gently, Ralph gave Vanellope a tired smile- instantly making her relax...and noticeably get a little more sleepy-eyed.

When she paused to rub her large eyes once again -even longer and more childishly this time- Ralph quickly recognized how dumb he'd been. It was _clear_ just what Vanellope must need then.

The wrecker himself was exhausted to the code- and figured _Vanellope_ must be, too. These past few days had been something crazy for the both of them, so some much-needed, restful sleep would do them good, he figured.

"Say...while we're here at my place, why don't we hit the hay for a bit, eh, kid?" Ralph softly and slyly asked her- before quickly crushing the fear he assumed she must've immediately had. "And I promise we can go see _all_ the other games you want to after work tomorrow."

At Ralph's words of pending sleep, the clearly tired child before him surprisingly wilted- and a look of hesitancy came over her face. Vanellope's worried demeanor only proved to shock Ralph all the more, causing him to raise his eyebrows at her.

It was so clear the little girl was exhausted, ready to fall asleep right then and there...so why was she fighting it all so adamantly?

Seeing there was no way out of the upcoming rest -and/or way too tired to try and figure out a way out of it- Vanellope sighed...Before one last delaying idea hit her.

She was going to fight sleep as long as she possibly could. She _had_ to try and stay awake as long as possible...hold onto this mere _dream_ as long as she possibly could...

"Actually, can I have another piece of pie, Ralphie?" She quickly pressed with a grimace, immediately holding up her almost empty plate to him expectingly. "I think it'll, uh...help me sleep better, heh..."

Eyeing her in confusion, Ralph cocked his head to the side. That piece of pie she had just had was _huge..._and she hadn't even completely finished it. Why would she possibly want another one?

But he quickly shrugged it all off, silently taking her plate and fork from her and scooped her another piece, much smaller this time. As he handed the plate back to her shaking hands, though, his suspicion still ran high.

"I guess we better figure out sleeping arrangements," he mused carefully as Vanellope forced down her pie- doing so painfully slow, the wrecker observed. Undeterred, he tossed his head back towards his living room. "You want to camp out on the couch, kid? Or you can sleep in my bed tonight and I'll take the couch? Or..."

Neither her face or voice giving him any answer -other than that of a strange look of worry and fear- Ralph shrugged again.

"Whatever you want to do, kid," he told her softly. He fondly pulled on her one of her ears, earning a small, involuntary smile from the girl. "I'm good with whatever. You're the guest, so I want you to be most comfortable."

"Oh. Right...," Vanellope finally gulped down her last crumb of pie, her voice extremely soft and slightly wobbly.

Biting her lip again, she set her plate beside her once more. She wiggled uncomfortably for a moment and peered up at her best friend.

"Um...I guess I'll take w-whatever room has... the best light?" She attempted to carelessly mention, pulling her knees close to her chest and rocking softly. "Like, ya know, at night...?"

Raising an perplexed eyebrow her way, Ralph took theirplates and went to set them in his sink. What did she mean by _that?_

"Um...I don't know what you mean, kid," the wrecker finally admitted after a moment of mulling over it. "Do you sleep with the lights on, or-?"

"No, moron," the girl immediately hissed in response, annoyed by his lack of understanding.

She didn't really _want_ to have to explain in any more details- but if Ralph was going to be a complete idiot about, then she was going to have to.

"I meant, like, which room in this stupid shack is... the least dark at night?..." She finally formed her words, although wincing back at how weird they sounded when spoken out loud.

Slowly turning around to face her once again, a look of annoying clarity was on Ralph's face- although it was expressed almost benevolently. It was seemingly and painfully obvious all of a sudden to him why his best friend fights sleep so much- and, for whatever reason, he found it incredibly adorable.

"...A-are you afraid of the dark, kid?" He mused slyly, trying not to wound her elevated pride the best he could.

At his childish accusation, Vanellope angrily snarled.

"Wha- no!! _Of course_ not, Numb Skull!" She hissed, defensively standing back up on the island top with her little hands on her hips. "Why would you even think that?! What do I look like- a five-year-old?! I'm not afraid of anything...but _especially_ not the dark!!"

At her averse reaction, Ralph quickly attempted to calm her- regretting he even felt the need to ask in the first place.

"Hey, hey, no reason to get defensive, kid," he cooed with his large hands up. "It's ok if you're are, really. I won't tell anyone or judge ya-"

"Good. 'Cause you have nothing to tell and no reason to judge," she muttered irately as she stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest. "Cause I'm _not_ scared of no stupid darkness."

With her irritable, attitude-fill words, Ralph shook his head dismissively with a smirk. Vanellope really was just a kid; without adequate rest, she got super crabby.

"Man, you're grumpy all of a sudden," he snorting as he scooped her up, cuddling her close to him. "I think you need some sleep-"

"No, I don't!" The girl in his arms desperately interrupted, glitching out of his protective hands and back onto the island. She stood stubbornly before him, waning determination in her eyes. "I'm fine! I don't need sleep- never have, never will!"

"Ok, ok, kid," Ralph chuckled again, gently eyeing her with soft eyes- although he himself was getting more and more tired by the moment. Maybe getting this head-strong child to cave and go to sleep would be harder than he originally thought.

Rubbing his chin for a moment, the wrecker thought deeply about her earlier request- right as an idea hit him like a ton of bricks.

"I haven't really noticed what room has the best lighting," he confessed, before pointedly nodding back towards the room they'd previously been in. "But my living room has a big window in it that may provide some light from the streetlamps outside..."

When her face didn't relax any, Ralph only smirked at her. He had another trick up his sleeve- that of taking full advantage of Vanellope's natural, intense curiosity.

"Oh, and sometimes there are fireflies that come by, too," he casually mused- not shocked at all when the girl's demeanor instantly shifted.

Her tired, petulant face instantly melting into a look of curiosity, Vanellope quickly glitched back on Ralph's shoulder- exactly like he knew she would.

"Wait... Like, _real_ ones?" She inquired, her already large eyes even wider than usual. "Fireflies not made of candy that glows in the dark or anything?"

"Heh, nope," the wrecker chuckled at her inquiry, relieved at seeing the familiar glow of happiness in her eyes again. "They're pretty real, kid. C'mon, I'll show ya."

Moseying back into his humble living room, the large man started stepping around his random items all over the place- accidentally stepping on (and completely crushing) a few too many toothbrushes along the way. After he nearly stubbed his big toe on his coffee table and side-swiped his elongated couch, amazingly Ralph got himself and the kid on his shoulder safely across the room.

As the two approached the large window on the side of the room, Vanellope noticed, the poor window had already fallen victim to Ralph's poor decorating skills. Too short of blinds tried to sufficiently block the outside world from leaking into his place- but it only proved to create mediocre coverage, especially with mismatched curtains on top of it.

At the whole tacky ensemble, the girl wanted to make some smart, snarky comment... but she was far too tired to even half-heartedly smirk at this point. Plus, the lulling, constant moment of being carried on Ralph's shoulder made her fighting sleep even more difficult than usual.

After carefully pulling back the mismatched curtains, Ralph then fiddled with the blind's strings for a moment. Once he pulled the too-short blinds up to the tip-top of the window, the two friends stare out the glass for a moment- unable to see really anything, other than a blackish void with an occasional streetlight.

Confused and annoyed, Vanellope watched as Ralph smiled widely at the dark void and slowly pushed open the window pane.

"Uh, I don't see a single firefly, dummy," Vanellope rolled her eyes down at her friend- clearly fighting to keep her eyes open. "Where are they?"

"We just can't see them yet, dummy," Ralph responded with a smirk, reaching over to flip the other light switch in his living room. "It's too bright in here to see'em yet. We gotta make it as dark as possible."

Once the bright light in the room went off and the room went an eerie pitch black, Vanellope subconsciously felt herself lean a bit closer to Ralph's head. She even quickly wound her little hands through his hair once again, just it's touch calming her nerves a bit.

Ok, maybe she _was_ a tiny bit scared of the dark. She hated being unable to see at night- which, in her defense, had been pretty rare. There was always a soft glow of light to sleep by back at Diet-Cola Mountain, after all...

Shaking away thoughts of her old life -and the unsettling emotions its memory brought back- the girl blinked cautiously towards the window once more...

And was immediately moved to glitch off Ralph's shoulder and stand in the middle of the open window, every inclination to be in fear and to be afraid instantly vanishing.

Just outside the window before her was now _thousands upon thousands_ of tiny fireflies, filling up the land as far as Vanellope could possibly see. Other than the few streetlights sprinkled along the path, the bugs lit up the night as each blinked softly in the contrastingly dark night around them.

Each firefly seemed to light up at a different time- yet the creatures seemed to be working together in their silent but beautiful communication. In fact, it was almost as if the creatures were _dancing_, fluttering around to the melody of the near-by frogs and crickets' chorus somewhere in the distance.

Staring wide-eyed out the window, Vanellope watched as the entire Niceland was practically lit up by the little bugs' lighting and dancing, creating an almost magical effect in the land Fix-It Felix Jr had. The soft glow -along with the lullaby of nature sounds close by- was enough to instantly calm both of its impromptu audience.

Overcome with amazement, the small child felt herself back up slightly- only to bump right into Ralph's chest behind her. Looking up, she saw that he too was in a daze, resting an elbow on the window edge and placing his chin in one large hand.

"It's awesome, isn't it, kid?" He mused, suddenly laying his arm down on the ledge of the window- accidentally keeping the girl by his chest close to him.

Leaning more into the window, Ralph laid his other arm down tiredly. All at once, he sighed, his broad chest filling with the clean, refreshing Niceland air just outside. It all made him even more relaxed than before...and all the more ready for that nap.

Now trapped between Ralph's arms and his chest, Vanellope felt she had no choice but to slowly sit down. Pulling her legs close to her chest again, she cautiously leaned back against Ralph's chest- oddly feeling a mixture of regret and comfort as she did so.

As she rested her head against him, the child instantly realized that she was hearing -and _feeling_\- something she'd never been close enough to another character to actually experience.

That of an actual, soft-beating heart, pounding softly and calmly inside another character's chest.

Not wanting to be weird -yet desperately wanting to hear and feel it better...to _experience_ it better- Vanellope slowly turned her head and nestled one of her ears closer to the source of the sound...

And instantly felt herself calm. Relax and melt into mush like she'd never been able to before. It was like she was in a trance, entrapped by such a strange feeling of ultimate tranquility and peace.

There was something about that loud yet peaceful pitter-patter sound, that strong, pounding, _constant_ beat of Ralph's heart that made her felt so...

_Safe_. Undeniably, unarguably safe- like she was so 'fragile' that she desperately needed protection and attention from a big teddy bear, smelly man of a giant like Ralph. Yet, with him, the girl was in the best, most secure spot in all the world. With him was a place where nothing -not even her stupid, scary, awful past- could ever hurt her again...

"I gonna like having this window here," Ralph's gruff yet gentle voice chuckled out, suddenly shaking Vanellope's slowly closing eyes open again- and making her painfully aware of how nestled she had gotten to Ralph's chest. "It's so calming..."

Peering up at him in the dark, Vanellope quickly shook away her sleep -and the odd feeling of peace- and stared out the window again. She'd been so stupid to allow herself to get that comfortable like that. What if she'd fallen asleep?!

"Y-yeah," she forced out, straightening back up and turning back towards the window- yet unable to pull herself from Ralph's chest. "It's, uh, pretty cool..."

Smiling softly at her words, Ralph sighed above her head. He'd never been this content in his entire life- and it was clear to him as to why.

He hadn't known _Vanellope_ his entire life...never been as close to anyone as he was to her in his entire life...

The thoughts of strange, painful memories that felt decades-old sudden swallowed him whole- and the feelings of such unwelcomed emotions often coupled with those memories washed over him like a tidal wave. All far-off memories and emotions Ralph miserably never wanted to feel again.

Not wanting to be weird -yet desperately wanting clear his mind of the bad feelings and memories- Ralph hesitantly and slowly laid his head down on top of Vanellope's...

And instantly felt himself calm. Relax and melt into mush like he'd never been able to before. It was like he was in a trance, entrapped by such a strange feeling of ultimate tranquility and peace.

There was something about having this obnoxious, snarky, peluant kid around him, having her laugh and smirk and just be _close_ to him -probably close enough to hear his heartbeat, he figured- that made him felt so...

_Safe_. Strangely, ironically safe- like he was so 'vulnerable' that he desperately needed protection and care from a small little girl like Vanellope. Yet, being around her was the best, most secure feeling in the entire world in the wrecker's opinion. With her, there was nothing -not even his stupid, scarry, awful past- could ever hurt him again...

"Um...h-hey, Ralph?" Vanellope's raspy voice began cautiously, suddenly shaking Ralph's slowly closing eyes open again- and making him feel embarrassed how mushy he felt with Vanellope cuddled close to him. "C-can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, kid," her best friend answered all too eagerly, quickly raising his head off of Vanellope's. "Anything."

Biting her lip, the girl close to him vulnerably pulled her legs all the closer to her chest. She blinked nervously out the window for a moment- completely unsure and honestly _afraid_ of what she was about to admit out loud...

Yet somewhere inside she knew that she had to take a chance. That she had to stop fighting and lying to herself; that she needed to stop being so _afraid_. That she needed to allow her strong walls to come tumbling down...

And that she had to do something she'd never really done before.

Truly, _truly_ trust someone.

"Well...do you ever...um," she struggled to get out, ashamed at how small she sounded. "Do you ever have..._nightmares_, Stink Brain?"

Slowly hunching his eyebrows down, Ralph peered at the girl cuddled close- and despite the low light, he saw fear in her gorgeously illuminating eyes.

"Nightmares?" He repeated, unsure of where Vanellope was going with this. "Uh...sometimes. Not too often, though..."

He trailed off to suddenly chuckle to himself, causing the child to look back up at him in curiosity.

"Actually, I only have bad dreams when I have _chocolate_, heh," Ralph smirked out, making the girl close to him smile tiredly. "Maybe that's why I hate chocolate so much and avoid it more than I even do with Gene, heh...Why do you ask, Van?"

At his sudden question, Vanellope wilted and quickly turned to stare back towards the light show of fireflies.

"Oh, I was just wondering," she responded with forced casualness- a larger meaning clearly intended by her heavy, vacant silence. "...I guess I wanted to see what you do...when you _do_ have nightmares?"

Confused yet again by her odd and straightforward inquiry, Ralph pursed his lips together in uncertainty- but then decided to make light of it. Mostly.

"Oh...well, I guess I wake up," he finally told her simply, "remember that the nightmare all over now and that it was just a bad dream, annnnd... that's all, I guess," he concluded with a shrug. "There's nothin' much else you can do when you have nightmares, really..."

"Oh...right, of course," the girl at his chest mentioned softly, pushing up a little closer to him again...

And deciding to jump into trust head-first before she talked herself out of it.

"But...what if...what if at one point your 'nightmare' wasn't just a bad dream at night?" She cautiously mused, forcing her words out of her mouth and into the suddenly suffocating air. "What if my- er, _your_ nightmare was... real at some point? It was your reality in your waking hours... a-and it was something I- uh, _you_ had to endure, maybe every single day...And it was something you couldn't just 'wake up' from and remember that it's over now. Because it never _was, _ya know?..."

The vulnerable girl pointedly trailed off, staring wearily through the window again. She'd said too much already, she knew- but didn't care now. She was too far in to care anymore.

"And what if when I- er, _you_ were living _your_ nightmare, you used dreaming at night as an escape," she further pressed, "and it was how you dealt with your nightmare during the day?... It, like, helped me- I mean, helped _you_ to endure all you had to face while you were actually awake?"

At her slowly revealing words, Ralph gulped in painfully growing clarity. His heart and head pounded in unison...realizing that his poor best friend had been through far more than he ever knew.

"And what if now that your out of that situation and your life is _ten times_ better than what it was before," Vanellope tearfully proceeded, ignoring the fuzzy feeling of Ralph's affectionate eyes down on her, "you're worried that it's all...just a _dream_ again? Something amazing I..._y-you_ will no doubt wake up from- something you never _want_ to wake up from?..."

His heart pounding unbearably hard, Ralph shakily sighed. He felt conflicted suddenly- wanted nothing more than interrupt up his kid then. Tell her they'd go exploring other games right now, completely and utterly distracting her from the pain she had been clearly dealing with all this time...

But Ralph bit his lip hard instead, letting her continued in her 'made-up scenario'.

Letting her continue to openly and truly, _truly_ trust him.

"What if I- _you_ just close your eyes one day...and open 'em again," the child shakily voiced, her eyes blurry and dark, "...and _everything_ is exactly back to how it was before, when your life was totally miserable?"

Unable to take the definite wobble in his friend's small voice anymore, Ralph subconsciously pulled Vanellope closer to his chest- as if attempting to protect her from every word she was pouring out.

"Kid-"

Stopping him completely, the stubborn child roughly pushed Ralph's secure, protective hand away- refusing to feel any weaker than she already did.

"A-and, on top of it all...what if you are afraid you'll start to have actual nightmares _at night_ now, all because you're living the life you've always wanted- living your _dream?"_ She gulped out, her tone rippling with fear. "A-and then when you shake yourself awake, you feel like it's all just a living nightmare again? Something you can't really just wake up from..."

Her tiny chest heaving slightly, Vanellope bit her lip hard- trying her best not to allow her next words to escape. But inside she knew there was no way of keeping them back...the worst fear she'd ever known...

"And what if one day you wake up...," she painfully whispered out, "...and you find out that _your best friend _isn't there anymore? That-that they weren't even _real_...?"

After discreetly wiping her watery eyes with her balled-up sleeve, the scared little girl then stared down at her small twisting fingers- shame and fear written on her face. Had she _really_ just said all that out loud?

She quickly guessed that she had, given Ralph's silent answer for a moment. Actually, it was longer than a moment. It was _several_ moments stacked one after another, painfully making Vanellope swarm and gulp and worry with each passing second of silence.

"All totally hypothetically speaking, of course," she quickly covered as she glued her eyes on the fireflies floating closer towards the window. "If _you_ were, ya know, in that completely make-up situation..."

Speechlessly staring down at her in a stupor, the wrecker pressed up behind her bit the inside of his cheek- completely unable to answer her. Turning to eye out the window himself, he struggled to carefully formulate his thoughts. He tried to concoct some cleverly-yet-delicately worded sentences that would help his best friend yet but make her not feel so childish for her fears...So unbelievably close to his own...

Finally peering up at her still quiet best friend, Vanellope thought breifly about how Ralph was the only _real_ friend she'd ever had. He was the only _real_ best friend she'd just trusted more than anyone else in her young life...

And upon looking at him, the girl was shocked when she saw no trances of teasing, no little bit of mocking, not one ounce of joking manner in his soft brown eyes.

All she saw in Ralph's eyes as he then looked back down at her was a rare but _real_ look of compassion, sympathy...and a strong sense of something else that she couldn't successfully put her finger on just yet. It was a look Ralph had had in his eyes this passing day and a half- but something Vanellope couldn't easily recognize...or maybe even fully accept as truly being there...

And although that look was beyond comforting to her for some reason, the guarded child finally just blushed and looked away- not allowing herself to accept that it or _any_ of this was actaully real.

"Huh...," Ralph finally voiced out cautiously- his voice trying to remain steady as he slowly pieced his answer together. "W-what would _I_ do...In that totally hypothetical situation?..."

When the girl just silently nodded up at him in all too eagerness, the wrecker gave her a small smile.

"Well, I'd do the exact same thing," he told her simply. "I'd wake up and remember that my nightmare is over, that it was just a bad dream..._now_, at least..."

"O-oh..."

"And _then_ I would remind myself that... nothing...absolutely _nothing_...will ever go back to the way it was when your- er, _my_ nightmare was a reality," he quickly continued- his soft yet firm voice seeping with genuineness with what he was about to say next. "_My_ life is a dream now- the best dream I could ever have...and, the best part is, is that you'll- er, _I'll_ never have to wake up from it."

Blinking up at him with incrediblely watery eyes, the girl at his chest just mutely nodded- afraid she'd cry if she even attempted to speak.

"And when...when none of that is enough to chase the nightmares away," her best friend proceeded, over-trying to play off as casal, "you should- er, _I_ should remind _myself_ that...um...well, that I am..."

_Immensely cared about? _No, that sounded dumb...

_A recipient of great affection?_ Even dumber somehow...

_Greatly like...mightly adored...beyond being favored?..._

Abruptly closing his eyes tight, Ralph suddenly knew undeniably what he must say next. It was time to take a chance, stop fighting and lying to himself- to stop being so _afraid_. It was time to allow his strong walls to come tumbling down...

And if Vanellope wasn't there when he opened his eyes, at least he could say he he felt actual...

"..._Loved_. You are- er, _I_ am loved," the wrecker slowly admitted, pulling Vanellope closer to him- and not daring himself to open his eyes. "A lot, in fact..._e-especially_ by my best friend..."

Sighing shakingly, Ralph finally blinked his eyes open and stared straight ahead- beyond scared to see if his best friend was still there in his arms.

"And _I_ would know that I can truly _trust_ my best friend," he rushed out, watching absentmindedly as the now blurry fireflies floated by, "and know that they will always protect me and make me feel safe... And that no matter how many times I close my eyes...no matter how much I think otherwise...my best friend will always, _always_ be there when I open my eyes again..."

Feeling ashamed at how weak and vulnerable his voice sounded, Ralph blushed- and quickly realized he was only met with silence from the girl in his arms. Sighing shakingly yet again, he knew he'd said too much, wounded his and his kid's pride- but he didn't care. He was too far in to care anymore.

"That's what _I_ would do- if I was you, at least," he quickly covered- slowly forcing himself to look down at his kid. "Totally hypothetically speaking, of-

In utter shock, the wrecker saw that not only was his still _real_ best friend still there, cuddled in his arms...

But now Vanellope was fast asleep- nestled so close to his chest, Ralph was amazed he didn't wake her up with his loudly pounding heartbeat.


	3. Chapter 3: Your Future's Ready to Shine

**(A/N: Welp, here's the last chapter for this story- and as promised, it has a nightmare scene in it lol This has been a fun short story to write (it turned way more heavyhearted than I meant for it to lol oh well ;)) and I feel this chapter will wrap everything up well.**

**Hopefully this will be the last stroke of random one-shotish ideas for me for a while; I've got other unfinished stories I've gone to work on instead- and ideas like this that BEG me to write it distracts me majorly ;D**

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**As always, hope all enjoy! :D)**

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**Chapter 3: Your Future's Ready to Shine**

In utter shock, Ralph gulped back the knot instantly forming in his throat. He wasn't sure what he expected to see when he looked down at Vanellope- but her sawing logs sure wasn't it.

After getting over his initial surprise, though, the wrecker quickly found himself beginning to fondly smiling- and completely unable to pull his his eyes off the sleeping child in his arms.

Vanellope looked so adorable right then, tucked up as close as she could possibly get to his chest. In the glowing light of the fireflies, he saw that her round face was mostly blank- although a peaceful smile seemed to tug at her slightly ajar mouth. The wrecker's own smile only growing, he smirked as the girl recoiled her small legs even closer for more warmth.

Suddenly she inhaled through her nose- and slowly snuggled that much closer to her best friend. After a few moments of wiggling and picking slightly at her bunched-up clothes, she finally found a comfortable position to settle in- causing her to nuzzle her check against Ralph's frayed overalls. The most content she'd been all night -perhaps her whole _life_\- the child finally exhaled in her sleep, clearly in the deepest rest she'd ever been in as a permanent, soft smile danced across her face.

His heart pounding so hard he could feel it in his ears, Ralph spontaneously bit his lip and instantly became frozen for some odd reason. It was if he was afraid the slightest twitch of a muscle could stir the deeply-sleeping girl, the weakest thought of his own could abruptly awaken her.

Unsure of what to do, the wrecker nervously resorted to stiffly pulling Vanellope closer to him- his contrasting large hands dwarfing her little body. His huge fingers gently wrapping around her tiny form like a oversized blanket, Ralph snuggled the child closer to his chest- nearly swallowing her small form from view...

And slowly laid his head back on top of hers. A peaceful, toothy smile surfaced on his face as he gradually closed his eyes- loving the fuzzy feelings of safety and tranquility swallowing him whole again.

For a few rare moments of pure, unhidden peace, Ralph found that his breathing matched up with the tiny girl in his arms- intentional or not, the wrecker didn't know or care. As he slowly opened his eyes again -this time completely unafraid of what he'd find when he'd open them again- Ralph blinked down at the kid in his arms...and sighed in a fondness completely unknown to him.

Forcing his now blurry eyes away from the small girl's form, Ralph silently watched for a moment as the fireflies still danced around outside. Most of the little bugs fluttered off in a safe distance, but others came as close to the window as they could get without completely coming inside the home. A few were actually brave enough to float inside and dangerously close to Vanellope's face, setting her small face aglow with their flashing lights- although such a light disruption had little effect on the deeply-sleeping child.

Lifting his head to peered down at her, Ralph snorted when Vanellope just glitched slightly in her sleep, her black eyebrows jumping around for a split second. She was clearly off in a dream land now...one that the wrecker could only hope was peaceful.

Closing his eyes once more, Ralph smiled as the sound of Vanellope's faint snores drifted up to his ears. He deeply sighed, his mind and heart in complete peace as one thought bounced around happily in his mind for a moment in time.

_Life just can't get better than this._

Abruptly rubbing her closed eyes in her sleep, Vanellope stretched out her small limbs- unintentionally pulling Ralph from his stupor. She accidently kicked up against his large hand, making him withdraw it a little so she'd have more space to stretch out.

Realizing that she needed more space to sleep more comfortably, the wrecker dispondedly eyed the couch behind him- and bit his lip again. A weirdly selfish, protective feeling came over him as he mulled over his options.

Ralph wouldn't ever admit it outloud, but there was something so comforting about having this little girl cuddled up in his arms. Vanellope trusting him so much that she knew she was safe with him meant the world to the giant...and something that warmed him to his code.

And although he wanted her to be more comfortable, Ralph also wanted to keep Vanellope as close to him as possible all night- not wanting the warm feeling she solely gave him to fade away.

His eyes dancing back and forth between the child and the couch behind him, the wrecker finally made up his divided mind.

_Vanellope will still be here when we wake up in the morning..._

Gently scooping up the child in a tenderness that even surprised himself, Ralph cradled Vanellope close to his chest as he silently made his way over to the couch. He carefully tip-toed around his small coffee table, cautiously making sure he didn't step on a stray toothbrush- and finally laid the child down softly on the couch, slowly pulling his huge hands away as to not disturb her.

As Vanellope wiggled and stretched all the more, the wrecker quietly turned on the small lamp on his end table so he could see a little bit better in the dark room. After grabbing a super fluffy pillow and a throw blanket from his recliner, the wrecker gently lifted the small girl's head and placed the soft pillow underneath. Once she satisfyingly snuggled her cheek to the cushion, Ralph gently tucked the soft blanket snugly around the small child's frame.

Her face abruptly squishing up, the sleeping girl suddenly reached up to subconsciously tug her red licorice tie out from around her hair. Her beautiful raven hair instantly falling around her face, she half-heartedly tossed the tie over the edge of the sofa- and snuggled that much deeper into her bed for the night.

A fond chuckle escaping his lips again, Ralph gently tucked a few stray pieces of black hair behind the girl's round ear. After he'd patted her back one last time, the wrecker finally got up and quietly went to shoo the fireflies back outside so he could shut the window. Pulling down the blinds, the wrecker smirked tiredly to himself. He knew the fireflies would do the trick for Vanellope's insomnia (and once hidden fears)...

And now finally, _finally_, the exhausted wrecker could get his much-deserved nap.

As he went over to lean up against the back of his couch, Ralph reached down to adjust Vanellope's long locks of hair one last time as she sighed in sleepy contentment. Finally convinced that his friend was as comfortable as she could possibly be for the night, the giant twisted the light switch on his lamp- and was immediately startled at the assault of pure darkness swallowing him...

And at the instant whimper coming somewhere on his couch.

Quickly turning back on his lamp, Ralph worriedly saw that Vanellope was still sound asleep- but her face was molded into that of a look of pain. She harshly whined again and grabbed the pillow underneath her tightly, her eyebrows squished into a frightening look of fear...

And although her reaction soften a bit at the light being turned back on, it was still as if she was afraid of something in her dream... now an undeniable _nightmare_...

_"R-Ralph!"_ the small child suddenly squeaked out in pain, her face constricting even more, "I n-need to...s-save-"

"H-hey, it's ok, kid," Ralph immediately cut off her last words- his gut stabbing him as he quickly reached down and softly stroked Vanellope's cheek with an over-sized thumb. "I'm right here. You're safe, ok? No one is going to hurt you ever again...but especially not Turbo..."

His heart in his throat, the tearing up wrecker silently begged that his voice and touch was enough to chase away his best friend's fears, her painful memories... her _nightmare_...

And he was shocked that instantly the child's face eased in it's worried look, every ouce of fear she had vanishing. Turning on her side towards the sound of her best friend's comforting, calming voice, Vanellope subconsciously reached up and held onto Ralph's thumb...

And perhaps most amazing of all of her reactions, the small child half-smiled in peace and gripped his thumb a little tighter- confirming to Ralph that her nightmare had thankfully past.

Feeling like a gooey pile of mushy emotions, Ralph gulped back the now warm knot in his throat. He'd never chased away someone's nightmare before, never had his voice be a comforting aid to someone before...never had someone -let alone a kid- who _never_ wanted to let him go, not even for an instant...

Never had someone so afraid that he would be gone when they woke up...

Seriously debating if he could just stand by the couch with his lamp on all night so Vanellope wouldn't have to let go of him, Ralph finally sighed in annoyance when he realized that none of that was real option for him. There was no way the girl could get adequate sleep with a bright lamp light shining in her face all night. Plus, the wrecker's stiff back was _already_ starting to ache from being awkwardly bent over- and he kinda needed to get a good night's rest to be able to wreck the Nicelander's building during gameplay tomorrow..._And_ to live up to that promise of taking Vanellope game exploring afterwards.

Looking around his small living for a moment, the wrecker bit his lip, desperate for anything -literally _anything_\- that could take his place for Vanellope just for the night...

Anything that could provide a little bit of light, too- something soft enough to not disturb her... but bright enough to make it not so dark in his dingy living room...

And as if being hit by a brick truck, Ralph smirked at his new, brilliant solution.

Slowly withdrawing his thumb away from the child -who instantly started to wiggle unhappily again- Ralph dashed over to his kitchen. He quickly dug through his cabinets, looking for a clear cup, or a small canister, or-

"A jar! With a lid!" He exclaimed happily as the perfect-sized pitcher came into view. _"Perfect!"_

In complete wonderment how _he_ of all people ended up with a _glass_ container - let alone how it wasn't completely shattered by now- the wrecker extremely carefully pulled the jar down from the cabinet. Fishing in his kitchen drawers for a suitable knife, he instead found -yet again- another toothbrush, no doubt hastily tossed in the drawer to get it out of the way or out of view.

For once actually elated to see a toothbrush, Ralph quickly yet quietly stabbed five small holes in the metal lid of the jar with the rounded end of the brush- a beyond easy feat for his powerful strength. Amazed at his ingenious brilliance, he smirked and dash back over to the window.

Quickly opening the window and the jar yet again, Ralph waited for a few moments for the fireflies to dance near by again- and once a suitable number of them were close enough, he swiftly caught several of them safely in his jar. Gently twisting the lid on tight, the wrecker smiled at the glowing bugs now confined in his homemade nightlight, each still twinkling happily as if glad they could have a part in his plan.

Then pushing his coffee table up against his couch, Ralph softly set the jar of fireflies down right by Vanellope's head- and decided to test his idea out.

Twisting off the light of the lamp yet again, the wrecker held his breath and winced as he knelted down silently. He watched with worried, piercing eyes as Vanellope instantly whined again at the lack of light- clearly hating that there was nothing to comfort her...

But when she abruptly turned over...and the glow of something soft and green and _beautiful_ filtered past her shut eyelids...

Her anxious face softened again, her painful whining dissipating. Her sleek eyebrows raised in surprise instead of arching in fear- and once the moment subconscious clarity hit her as just what the glow was made by...

Vanellope's eyes fluttered sleepily opened half-way- and instantly her face lit up at the fireflies just before her eyes. Unable to pull half-lidded her eyes away from their trance-inducing power, she stared groggily at the bugs for a split moment, a small face surfacing on her face...

Which only grew when she saw a familiar worried face just beside of the jar, peeking at her with so much affection in his gentle brown eyes.

Blinking sleepily at her protective best friend...still right there...still so _real._..the girl smiled warmly one last time-

And peacefully fell fast asleep yet again as her eyes fluttered shut.

Finally letting the breath he was holding go, Ralph sighed like a deflated balloon. Relief washed over him when he saw Vanellope snuggled deeper into her pillow and as she sighed herself- each now in a calming, lulling serenity unknown to them.

Amorously smiling at her one last time, the wrecker finally stood back up- and for extra measure, pushed the bug-filled nightlight closer to his kid's now expressionless face. He paused to stare at her in pure amazement- how simply beautiful and angelic she looked with the glow of the fireflies reflecting off her sweet face again...how safe and secure and peaceful she seemed to be now...

And it all was enough to make Ralph wipe his misty eyes all over again.

Shaking his head clear of the warm fuzz filling it, Ralph finally made his way down his hallway and into his room. Out of habit, he began to shut his room door- before abruptly pausing right before it latched shut.

_What if Vanellope has a nightmare and needs me?_ his mind suddenly warned him in the dark, _what if she starts crying and I don't hear her..._

Quickly opening it a little more, the wrecker settled on keeping the door a few good inches ajar. _Just in case..._

Another wave of absolute exhaustion suddenly overtaking him, Ralph somehow stumbled through his dark room without tripping on anything. Once he reached the oversized bed beckoning him closer, he practically collapsed into it- not even bothering to pull his blankets up around himself he was so sapped.

Allowing the now comforting pitch black darkness around to swallow him whole, Ralph sighed tiredly one last time- and within a few mere seconds was peacefully and deeply out in the best nap he'd ever had.

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_Her gut doing backflips and cartwheels in the pit of her stomach, Vanellope glitched as hard as she physically could. As she forced her fragile code not to fail her now, she winced slightly. For whatever reason, her glitching was starting to hurt her now..._

_Or maybe it was that pounding thing in her chest, feeling like it could split open in fear..._

_Whatever the source of her pain, the desperate child ignored it all and just silently begged that she wasn't too late. She **couldn't** be too late..._

_Suddenly speeding to a stop, she panted in place for a split moment- her mind already plauging her that even that amount of time was too long. She frantically looked around for a kart -any kart- she could use to drive in, not seeing even one that wasn't half-destoryed..._

_Before her eyes landed on a brown and cream colored go-kart, protectively tucked underneath a candy fan stand...and more important, safely out of the damage path of the sheer chaos happening in the doomed game of Sugar Rush._

_Glitching over to the only undestoryed kart, the small, terrifying girl climbed inside- and allowed what was inside her code to take over._

_With no hestaintation, Vanellope slammed a desperate foot on the 'go pedal' and sped off towards Diet Cola Mountion- practically pleading with herself to make it there in time._

_Driving faster than she ever think was possible, she ignored every virus-like creature called Cy-bugs flying dauntingly around her. She blocked out the fact that her very game was slowly being destoryed..._

_In those few agonizing moments of driving in a blink of an eye, Vanellope practically forgot all about everything in her life._

_Her **real** chance of winning a race- that meant nothing to her now. Her **real** shot to prove what was in her code- who cared about that anymore?..._

_Her **real** opportunity to get everything she wanted...the cakes and the pies and the icesculptures and the fireworks..._

_All that she thought she wanted, all that she dreamed about having all these years of being a confided, hated glitch..._

_It all was just a distance, important memory now, just a distance, unimportant __dream__..._

_No, one and only one thought was screaming in her mind, forcing her to press the 'go pedal' harder and harder..._

_Forcing Vanellope closer and closer to that secret opening in the mountain just a few dozen feet away now...that opening that was desperately glitching, glowing on and off now for some odd reason..._

_Pulling her and Crumbelina's kart closer and closer to the worst nightmare ever unfolding before her eyes..._

_"I've... g-got to get there in time," Vanellope whispered out as she panted, that pounding thing in her chest expanding with agony. "Oh please...**p-please**...let me get there in time to save-"_

_A earth-shattering eruption broke up her spoken words suddenly, causing the mortified child to slammed a startled foot on the 'stopper' and to look up..._

_Only to see that she was all too late._

_The top of Diet Cola Mountain was already exploding. The hot springs were already mixing with the mentos to create this burning...deadly combination of a beekon- already shooting up into the air..._

_Her fears were already becoming all to real..._

_"No..." she heard herself breathe out..._

_"Vanellope!" A furiously serious voice yelled out beside the child suddenly- a pair of stern yet gentle hands aburptly pulling her numb form out of the kart. "What in blue blazes do you think you were doing?! You almost got killed by a Cy-Bug there, soilder!"..._

_Killed..._

_Killed..._

_"At least we found her, Tammy," another voice -more gentle and southern than the other voice- shrieked out somewhere close by. "Thank goodness we did, too! Now to find where the boo Ralph landed..."_

_Ralph..._

_Ralph..._

_"There's no time to find that medal-stealen dirt bag, Short-Shack," the serious voice hissed in response. "I'm sure he raced up to the exit of Sugar Rush while we were out looking for this crazy kid, anyway."_

_Already racing off towards the finish line with Vanellope in her arms, the sergeant woman restrivetively held the girl in her arms._

_"We've got to get this chica... to the finish line... game... reset ...Now!"..._

_Although she was there in her arms, Vanellope could only hear bits and pieces the crazy woman carrying her had said. Her head was pounding too hard to hear properly, her ears too numb to allow another sound in._

_No..._

_No..._

_"NO!" The child suddenly screamed, glitching uncontrolling in the woman's arms- desperately trying to get over her shoulder to crawl back towards the mountain. "Ralph!!"_

_"We'll find him later, kid," the woman holding her hissed as she tightened her restrictive grip on the child...__Carrying Vanellope further and further away from the mountain..._

_"R-Ralph!" The child cried again, her voice bearly heard as stinging tears poured from her eyes. She wiggled fuitley in the woman's hands, her desperation and despair only growing. "I n-need to s-save **him!"**_

_"You're too late, glitch!!!" A horribly familiar voice declared all too happily, sending a code-chilling ripple up Vanellope's spine._

_Terrified beyond belief, she looked back up towards the exploding Diet Cola Mountain- and there at the top of the eruption, she saw the mutated King Candy himself in his hideous Cy-Bug form.__Wickedly smirking (and uneffected by the draw of the beakon), the monster flew down to hover not too far away from where the now equally terrified trio stood frozen still._

_All at once, an alarming rumble overtook Sugar Rush as the virus-riddled menace crash mightily on the candy ground- creating yet another barrier between Vanellope and Diet Cola Mountain._

_"That warthog you called a friend is **dead!"** The creature screamed at it's soon-to-be next victims, laughing evilly as it crawled closer..._

_Causing the sergeant and the blue cladded man to find their feet and race off towards the exit, the woman still clutching onto Vanellope as the ran for their lives..._

_"And I'm now... keep you... from escaping, glitch," King Candy growled as he raced after them- Vanellope unable to hear him completely. "Letting you... killed by...my minion Cy-Bugs..."_

_The child couldn't think, feel, even glitch in response to his broken-up threat her way...unfazing her in the slightest._

_All that she cared about -all that she really wanted more than anything else in her life now- was to save her best friend. Protect him like she always had done with her._

_In utter hopelessness, Vanellope blurrily looked past the huge monster crawling after her and stared desperately at Diet Cola Mountain. She even reached out her arms towards the exploding peak- begging it's real eruption to stop._

_Pleading for it to stop killing everything with its real beekon...__Begging it to allow her only real friend to come back to life..._

_Phyically fighting, physically glitching, Vanellope screamed in agony as she refused to accept defeat...refused to accept that King Candy was about to kill her as well..._

_Refusing to accept that Ralph was really gone...that her only **real** friend was gone..._

"AHHH!" Vanellope suddenly screamed as she sat up, blinking her eyes repeatedly in shock and horror.

In moment of trying to figure out where she was, what had happened, the scared child panted hard for a few moment. She quickly realized that she was practically dripping in sweat, her long black hair sticking to her tear-strained face and now overwhemlingly suffocating sweatshirt.

Grabbing her aching head, the tearful child frantically looked around- begging for some sort of calming sight...

And once her blurry eyes landed on a familiar jar filled with beautiful fireflies, she quickly began to slowed down in her panting.

She immeditately realized she'd just been asleep. That it was all just a dream...

Just a _nightmare_...

Her eyes widening again, Vanellope felt her lip quiver in a renewed fear...that thing in her chest racing unbelievingly hard.

_I fell asleep_, she realized in mounting horror, _I closed my eyes..._

Pulling her eyes off the jar and looking around in the otherwise dark room, the child gulped down a hard knot forming in her throat.

_Where is he? Where is...R-Ralph?!_

Suddenly glitching off her makeshift bed on a couch, the girl found herself scarily, vulnerablely all alone- with one thought plauging her straight to her code.

_...He was real...wasn't he?..._

All at once, her ears filled with a loud, startling snore coming from another area in the house she apparently was in- instantly making her heart stop racing and her mind stop pounding in her paralyzing thought.

Quickly grabbing her jar of fireflies, the girl allowed them to light her way as she followed the sounds of the snores- leading her down a long hallway. After dancing around a trail of yet more abandon but now comforting toothbrushes (seriously, just how many Nicelanders _were_ there?), she came to the end of the hall. There she found a door, agape enough to the loud snore to escape through easily.

Pushing the door open enough to slip inside, the girl tiptoed over the where the snoring came from...a large bed with an even larger person sleeping on it...

Holding her breath, Vanellope held her nightlight up a little higher up to see said person better...

And instantly burst into silent tears when she saw that it was her still real best friend, just sleeping on his back and snoring loudly away.

Unable to hold herself back, the child glitched onto of the bed, careful not to wake her sleeping friend. Noiselessly scooting over to the top edge of his bed, she set her nightlight on Ralph's bedside table...

And quickly climbed onto Ralph's round stomach, instantly calmed as it rose and fell softly with each breath he took. She laid still for a few mintues, crying softly into Ralph's frayed overalls- this time more out of relief than in fear.

She thought she'd gone by unnoticed- and was honestly still so exhausted she had almost fallen back to sleep- when Ralph seemed to feel the suddenly weight of her on his stomach.

All at once he inhaled deeply and stretched, allowing one large hand to settle on his stomach- and when he felt a small new lump there that wasn't there previously, he slowly blinked open his eyes.

The small lump resting on his stomach felt hot yet it was shaking as if cold...soft yet moist as if by sweat...and when he began to subconsciously feel his overall and shirt being wet, Ralph realized in horror just what -or who- was resting on his stomach.

_"Vanellope?"_ He asked in the dark all at once, dread in his voice. "Is- is that you, kid?"

He was only met by silence for a moment...before a tiny, ashamed voice finally can from upon of his belly.

"Y-yeah...it's me. Sorry I woke you up, Stink Brain, heh..."

"No, it's ok, kid," Ralph could only respond- never taking his hand from off her shaking form. "Um...you ok?"

Biting her lip, the child in question just silently gripped her best friend's shirt, seriously considering telling him the truth.

In fact, she was about to tell Ralph all about the horrible nightmare she just had, how much it scared her, how much it _hurt_ her...

How that chronic fear of nightmares plauging her every night might truly be happening...

When she decided against.

She'd woken up- and reminded herself that the nightmare was over, after all. Reminded that it was just a bad dream..._now_, at least...

And now that she was snuggled on the safest, most secure place in her world, Vanellope could remind herself that nothing -absolutely _nothing_\- would go back to how horrible her life was before she met Ralph...back when her very reality was a nightmare.

The child knew her life was finally, _finally_ a dream- the best dream she could ever have. One she'd never have to wake up from. One that would never end...

And best of all, nothing -past or present, real or imagined- would ever cause her to lose the best friend that she...well...

_Greatly admired?_ Ridiculous sounding...

_Beyond favored over anyone else? _Somehow even more ridiculous...

_Immensely liked...mightily adored-_

No, it was time to take a chance, stop fighting and lying to herself- to stop being so _afraid_. It was time to allow her strong walls to come tumbling down...

She could truly trust Ralph, after all. He always protected her, made her feel safe. He was willing to go on adventures with her, go explore games with her...just like best real friends do...like _real_ best friends do...

And best of all, no matter how many times she fell asleep or closed her eyes -no matter how many times she had a nightmare or worried otherwise- the best friend that Vanellope _loved_ would always, _always_ still be there when she woke up or opened her eyes.

That's all one could do when they have a nightmare, after all.

"Vanellope?" Ralph slowly voiced out once more, making Vanellope's closing eyes open again. "Did you have a...a _nightmare?"__Surely she hadn't, though, right?_ His mind thought worriedly, deneiably- guilt already stabbing him. _She would've cried and I would've heard her...unless I was too deep in sleep that I didn't even hear her?..._

"Yeah, I did," the child curled up on his stomach dreadedly replied- her voice startlingly calm. "But it'll all over now..."

At her words, Ralph drew the child closer- and sighed heavy-hearted. He hated himself that he wasn't there for her then, when she really needed him- but at least he could be now.

Feeling mushy all over again, he briefly thought about asking her to share the details of her nightmares, especially the one that was once her reality...telling her to trust him and that he'd never let anyone ever hurt her again...

Before he deciding against it.

That all was in the past, after all, left there for good now that they'd found each; there was no point in rehashing it all.

In a still silence around them, the two best friends were equally quiet for a moment- Ralph silently stroking Vanellope's back as they both stared sleepily at the jar of fireflies. The glowing bugs lulled them into trace of peace, tranquility, and calmness, pulling them closer and closer into sleep.

"C'mon, kid," the wrecker finally sighed again, ruffling Vanellope's hair. "Let's try to get _some_ good rest before work tomorrow..."

"Can we go game exploring afterwards?!" Vanellope squealed happily in the dark- all traces of fear gone in her tone...along with any hope of extra sleep. "I still have my long list of games to see, ya know...including Hero's Doodie, heh..."

Feeling his chest rise a bit, the girl smiled as Ralph chuckled in the night.

The wrecker knew he might've well get used to sleepless night now; he wasn't getting much sleep with Vanellope already. Between his worry and his protection and...his _love_ over her...there was no chance of him getting any real, lasting, well-needed naps.

And he was surprisingly ok with that.

"Well, we're _still_ not going into Hero's Doodie," Ralph smirked when he heard Vanellope giggle, "but we can explore any other games you wanna see tomorrow, kid... Well, after attending Felix' and Calhoun's _wedding_ tomorrow we can go exploring, that is," he mentioned as an afterthought.

"Ugh, I forgot about that. _Yuck!"_ The puckish child instantly gagged at his words, causing Ralph to chuckle again- and to mentally imagine the disgusted look she must've bore in the dark then. "That's just _gross. _Don't get me wrong- I'm happy for Sergeant Crazy and Hammer Time...But I don't really care to see those two making out for all to see."

At her pointed words, Ralph finally laughed outloud- subconsciously running his fingers through Vanellope's long, raven hair as he did. He was relieved to find her hair wasn't soaking wet, but was just it's usual softeness again...and that his own feelings about the marriage ceremony were shared.

"Heh, same here," he agreed with her words, gently tugging her tresses of hair. "Those two really droll on each other, don't they? Heh...At least we'll have each other at their wedding."

"Yeah. I've honestly never been to a wedding before...," the girl suddenly mused out loud, a strange mixture of shame, amazement, and excitment her tone. "Yet the first one I go to I'm the flower girl, heh..."

"I haven't ever been to a wedding, either..." Ralph felt moved to admit as he placed his unoccupied hand behind his head. "But I'm the best man at Felix' and Calhoun's tomorrow. Funny how _weird_ life can be, huh, kid?"

"Yeah, weird...yet simply perefct," the small girl nodded to herself, tiredly snuggling a bit closer to Ralph's broken overall. A smirk settled on her face as she subtly scooted up to lay on his chest. "I bet you'll up crying like a diaper baby when they lock lips, heh."

Rolling his eyes, Ralph shook his head- although he did directly worry about sheading some tears at the occasion. He'd become quite an overly-mushy man here lately.

"Will not!"

"Will to!"

"Whatever, kid. I'm not even going for that part of it, anyways," Ralph continued to deny, mocking annoyance in his tone. He smiled as he shut his eyes. "I'm really just going 'cause there will be loads of Mary's cakes...and pies and-"

"And ice-sculptures and fireworks?" The unseen child now laying on Ralph's chest yawned out- undeniably _loving_ the sound of that pounding, lullaby of a heartbeat once again.

At her words so soft and so familiar, Ralph smirked. He realized how stupid he was to think that's what he really wanted all these years...

Especially in comparison to the adorable kid now snuggled his chest.

"Yeah, kid," Ralph just responded softly, beginning to tiredly rub Vanellope's back with his large thumb. "That's _exactly_ why..."

Staring out into the still night, the two best friends went silent again- enjoying the quiet for a moment. Each reflected on the wonderful, never-ending dream of a life they share...and how it was somehow getting better each moment.

Ralph and Vanellope were undeniably close- and even _closer_ than they were just a few hours ago. They truly trusted each other- far more than they did not even a short time ago. They now well knew each other inside and out...and they were excited to see that there was so much more that they had to learn about each other.

Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz honestly _loved_ one another. More than anyone else, actually...

And it now shocked them even more that they'd only known each other for a day and a half.

The lulling silence finally finding success, the two best friends slipped into a restful, deep, _nightmare-free_ sleep. Sleep that was filled with thoughts of the adventures they'd encountered once they woke up. Sleep that was filled with meeting various creatures and games of all shapes and sizes- seeing the walls of the station again, seeing the _real_ sun again. Sleep that was filled new experiences, new realizations, new _dreams_ to be had together...

And that nap never felt so good for either Ralph or Vanellope.

In fact, they'd both -dare they say- completely and utterly _loved_ it.


End file.
